Mauresmo outshines Sun to reach China Open quarters

BEIJING, Sep 21 (Reuters) France's world number one Amelie Mauresmo breezed into the quarter-finals of the China Open today with a 6-3 6-2 victory over local Sun Tiantian.

Mauresmo, the top seed here, broke Olympic doubles champion Sun's serve at the second attempt and again to take the first set, before racing through the second to claim the win in an hour and 10 minutes.

Former world number one Lindsay Davenport and China's Zheng Jie will be on Centre Court at the Beijing Tennis Centre later today to decide Mauresmo's next opponent.

China could have four representatives in the last eight if Zheng and seventh seed Li Na, who closes the day's play against Russian Elena Vesnina, join Peng Shuai and Yan Zi in the next round.

Third seeded Russian Nadia Petrova thrashed Greek Eleni Daniilidou 6-1 6-2 to win her first match in nearly three weeks and set up a meeting with Serbian Jelena Jankovic, a 6-3 6-2 winner over Mauresmo's compatriot Marion Bartoli.

Petrova, who already has four titles under her belt in her most successful season, won the first five games against Daniilidou and grabbed the set with an ace, which survived a hawkeye challenge from the Greek.

Another break early in the second and the 24-year-old Muscovite was on her way to a comfortable victory that will earn her more valuable points in her quest to stay in the top eight in the race to the WTA tour championships.

''I had a little bit of a worry that my long lay-off would be a problem, but I played really well today,'' said Petrova, who was playing for the first time since her loss to Tatiana Golovin at the US Open on September 3.

Sixth seed Jankovic, a semi-finalist at the US Open earlier this month, looked to have shaken off the back problem that ruled her out of last week's Bali tournament.

''She's in the best shape of her life,'' Petrova said of the 21-year-old Jankovic. ''I'll try and raise my game a little bit and not allow her to dominate.'' REUTERS PM KN1524